Sylvester Idowu in Warri
A national political pressure group, Elites For Good Governance (EFGG) has called for the cancellation of the presidential and national assembly elections over alleged discrepancies recorded during last Saturday exercise across the country.
The group , in a statement issued yesterday and signed by its national president, Mr. Ogie Samson, said that the elections were fraught with lots of manipulations by political actors, including the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials in the country.
“Reports filed by our members across the Nigeria indicats that INEC officials colluded with politicians by bypassing the use of BVAS and allowed electorates to vote manually contrary to the provision of the electoral act.
“In some instances, INEC officials were either chased away or held hostage by politicians to manipulate the exercise or falsify the results. INEC deliberately delayed materials in strategic places in order to disrupt or frustrate the elections,” it stated.
The group cited an instance in Oki 1, Ward 1 Unit 19 off Okere road in Warri, Warri South Local Government Area where three adhoc officials, Udori Stephanie, Igein Theresa and Adeleke Balikiz Yetunde, were held hostage because the BVAS machines allegedly crashed.
“It took the intervention of the National Coordinator of the Vigilance Guide of Nigeria (VGN) Mr. Ogie Samson, whose wife was amongst the Adhoc staff, before the officials were released after being abandoned by the INEC Electoral Officer to their fate. This is an example of the manipulations that transpired across the country,” it added.
The group therefore called on the Chairman of INEC to cancel the elections and reschedule the exercise for a hitch free presidential and national assembly elections.
